


Falling

by Thefallofgallifrey



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Clint Barton-centric, Ironhawk- freeform, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Burn, WIP, Will tag more characters when they appear - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 03:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15452694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thefallofgallifrey/pseuds/Thefallofgallifrey
Summary: Clint Barton has fallen more than your average sky-diving instructor and he always lands hard. One would think that eventually he would get used to it and yet he never does. Every significant fall shapes a part of him.





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written in FIVE years so bare with me. It'll probably be slow going but I have a general idea of where everything is going to head. This is not beta'd so all mistakes are my own. I hope you enjoy!

The first time Clint remembers falling is a blurry recollection at best. The normally bright summer Iowa sun had gradually been swallowed by ominous dark clouds as he trudged through the low-lying brush after Barney. Time had escaped them but they both knew that their father would be too drunk by now to even notice their absence. Clint was no longer sure whether the dampness causing to his shirt to cling to him was caused by sweat or by the humidity that had soaked into the air. But he was determined to prove to Barney that he could climb higher than him in any given tree. 

It wasn’t until Clint saw the tree that Barney had picked did he start to second guess himself. The trunk was so thick that he doubted he could even wrap his legs around it completely and there weren’t any low-lying branches to cling to. The bark of the tree didn’t even appear to be rough. 

“What’s wrong little brother,” Barney asked slyly, “Afraid you’re gonna lose?” 

“Not at all,” Clint lied through his teeth. Too caught up in his own hubris to recognize the danger he continued, “I could climb this in my sleep.” 

His brother shook his head and laughed as he fished his pocket knife from his jeans. “Alright, just don’t forget that when you lose you have to muck the horse stalls for me all month!” Clutching the knife in his mouth, Barney took a handhold and with a great huff started up the tree’s trunk. Clint made sure to take note of the way that Barney was alternating between using his arms and his legs to lift himself higher and locking his ankles around the trunk to sit and breathe for a few moments here and there. 

Even it seemed Barney couldn't conquer the tree's height when he paused one last time about five feet from the lowest branch (which was easily twenty-five feet in the air). While carefully clinging to the tree with his legs and one of his arms, Barney took the knife from his mouth and scratched a crude BB into the tree to mark his progress. "Watch out!" He warned. Clint took a step back as his brother almost carelessly dropped the knife to the ground and quickly descended from his perch. 

With his feet firmly back on the ground Barney gave a triumphant smile to Clint, "Now it's your turn." 

Clint took one last look up tree and decided that it wasn't as tall as it looked. With new found conviction he bit onto the knife and rubbed his hands together, feeling the rough callouses grind against each other. He reached up and took two handholds and heaved himself up the tree. He was right about barely being able to wrap his legs around the trunk, but he also knew that the further up he climbed, the skinnier the trunk would get. And he was not mucking out the stalls all month. Even though Barney had the height advantage, Clint had yet to completely fill out his stocky frame and found himself to be lighter than he had anticipated. HIs confidence built as he climbed the first fifteen feet with ease. If I can maintain decent handholds I can make it all the way to the branches, he thought to himself. 

Eventually he felt the burning in his arms intensify and clung to the tree with his legs for a breather. "Don't look down!" He heard his brother taunt from below. Clint rolled his eyes and gathered what was left of his strength. Only a few more feet and the lowest lying branch would be in his reach and Barney could kiss his ass. He made sure to claw extra hard at his brother's initials as he clambered past them and with one last push with his legs, Clint grasped the branch above him and with great effort lifted one leg up and over. 

Stradling the branch, Clint took his time and carved Clinton Barton into the tree trunk. Only after he had finished did he look down at his brother who was leaning against another tree trunk with his arms tucked tightly against his chest. Even from over thirty feet in the air, Clint could feel the animosity rolling off of Barney. 

"Told you." Clint yelled down at him, reveling in his victory. 

Barney's shoulders heaved with a great sigh, "Whatever. Just come down from there before you fall." 

Laughter shook Clint's frame and he almost lost his balance. Maybe Barney was right about something after all. He closed the knife and tossed it to the ground before carefully beginning his descent. Rain began falling and Clint cursed the sky. His arms and legs were already numbed with pain and he was struggling to keep a decent hold on the bark. 

"Seriously Clint, be careful!" The concern in Barney's voice deepened the pit in his stomach. 

Suddenly the air was filled with a great white light and the burning consumed his whole body. Weightlessness surrounded him as his vision grew black. Just when he thought the pain in his body couldn't get any worse he felt a split second of unbearable pain before consciousness finally escaped him. 

 

\- 

 

When he finally starts to reemerge from his coma, the first thing Clint notices is that breathing has never felt more unnatural in his whole life. Pain radiated through his torso with every breath. Slowly he began to open his eyes, squinting in the bright unnatural light of the white room. He took a moment and assessed the different areas of discomfort in his body. Even lying down he felt dizzy and nauseous, his chest felt as though he had been hit by a truck, and his he couldn't move his fingers or his toes. When his vision cleared, he noticed the gauze wrapped around his hands and feet. 

"Clint?" 

The sound of his brother's voice brought immediate relief and also more pain in his head. "Wh-" His throat was sore and dry causing him to cough which sent his head spinning in pain. 

Barney was sitting on the bed now, "You're at the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" 

No, he couldn't remember. Panic started to spread through him. "Hey, calm down Clint," even though his vision was blurry, Clint could feel the heat of his brother's hand laying ever so gently on his shoulder. At least he knew he wasn't too fragile to touch. 

Clint swallowed hard in an attempt to wet his throat so that hopefully his next attempt at speaking wouldn't be as painful as his first, "I... I think I remember a little. We were tree climbing?" But he couldn't remember ever reaching the ground again. 

"Well, I was tree climbing and you-" his brother broke off to chuckle a little, "you got struck by lightning and fell like fifteen feet." 

Oh. That explained a lot. 

"You've been out cold for a few days now. Doc says that you were lucky to survive but I think it'll be a miracle if Dad doesn't kill us for being so stupid anyways." 

That also sounded about right. 

"You've got burns on your hands and feet, three broken ribs, a bruised sternum, and a pretty major concussion. But you really are gonna be alright." 

"Mmm," grunted Clint in agreement, "I'll be fine cause I'm not the one who's gotta muck the stalls all month-" a pause for thinking, "actually, I bet the doc will tell me I can't muck the stalls for a few months." 

Maybe being a human disaster could have upsides.


End file.
